The Watch
by lovemelaura88
Summary: Rory keeps finding a gold pocket watch everywhere he goes and the headaches get stronger and the voices get louder.
1. Chapter 1

Something had always drawn Rory to her. It's obvious she'd grown into a beautiful young woman so that really helped things along; attraction-wise. But there was something else. He couldn't put his finger on it exactly. In fact sometimes it didn't make sense since she was just plain mean to him. She'd flirt with other people right in front of him and she didn't stop even after they were married. He did enjoy her sexual appetite of course but there was a level of respect that he never got from her. Yeah, at the end of the day she always came home to him but it didn't feel like she respected him.

Somewhere behind his sweet and unassuming exterior was someone who wanted respect. In some ways he almost wanted to be feared but those sort of feelings he kept to himself knowing they were a bit strange. He never felt that way before. It started around the time he married Amy and The Doctor came back into their lives again.

Ever since he started traveling with the doctor he's started feeling stranger and stranger. He'd have these dreams that didn't seem to belong to him. These dreams scared him but this other side of him seemed to enjoy them. He's had dreams of slowly killing Amy and enjoying it. It didn't make sense when he woke up. When he woke up he was Rory and he loved Amy and he would do anything for her but when he'd fall asleep he had his hands around her neck and she grew weak and cold and limp in his arms and he loved it.

It was scary but who could he talk to about it? If he told Amy she'd freak and slap him across the face. If he told The Doctor he'd probably make a big deal out of it and scan his head for alien interference or something. Thinking about it; maybe it was something alien in his brain. His thoughts didn't seem human. It was like someone else had added things into his head that weren't his.

It reminded him of a schizophrenic patient he once had. Rory had understood where he was coming from when the patient explained his symptoms but Rory didn't have any split personalities. None that he knew about anyway.

Rory had a way of feeling incredibly empathetic towards his patients. You'd think someone so prone to feeling the pain of others would want to stay away from a hospital filled with the sick and dying but Rory was drawn to the medical field for as long as he could remember.

He came home from work and threw his backpack on the floor by the closet in the bedroom and laid his head down on the bed letting out a heavy sigh. A patient died today. A sweet old woman who'd been in pain for some time now. It was for the best that she finally got a chance to rest; Rory figured in an attempt to think positively. But Rory wasn't the sort to believe in things like the fate or the afterlife.

His headaches had been getting worse and worse. He thought maybe they just had to do with stress. Amy and Rory had been on the rocks lately. It drove him mad with anger but he held it all in as he often did. He got up to go to the medicine cabinet for an aspirin but a sound stopped him.

It was a ticking noise and seeing as how all his clocks were digital he didn't know where the sound was coming from. He looked through all his things to find its source was a small gold pocket watch in his backpack. It was odd because Rory doesn't remember ever seeing it before but a voice inside him said it looked oddly familiar. "How did you get here?" Rory thought out loud looking at the watch. He reaches for it and it begins to glow as he touches it.

"Hello?" Amy's voice calls from downstairs.

"Yeah?" Rory quickly closes the watch in a drawer and sits back on the bed.

"Just got home?" Amy asks.

"Yep" Rory looked at her and then back at the drawer where the watch was hiding. He could almost hear a voice telling him he has to open it.

Amy went to the bathroom and Rory could hear her turning on the shower and getting in. He took a peek through the slightly opened door to look at her undress. It'd been over a month since she'd let him touch her. She'd say she wasn't feeling well but Rory knew what it was.

Ever since the doctor dropped them off 2 years ago she'd gotten farther and farther away from him. In some ways she blamed Rory for bringing her down. It wasn't like she wasn't in the mood. Rory knew she'd slept with half the models she's worked with since her modeling career took off. He'd even had a few run ins where he'd caught her in the act. He thought about divorce but he couldn't bring himself to do it.

"Open it!" a disembodied voice called to him and Rory quickly turned away from the bathroom door and ran back to the drawer where the watch was hiding.

"Shut up" he whispered to it but quickly realized no one else could hear it but him.

Just then the all too familiar sound of the Tardis could be heard coming from the living room. Rory grabbed the watch and put it in his pocket as he ran downstairs. A wet Amy in a white cotton bathrobe soon followed.

"Ponds!" The Doctor ran out and kissed them both on the cheek. "Sorry. Bad time?" he looked at Amy who was creating a small puddle in the living room floor.

"I was a little busy, yeah" she scoffs. "What makes you decide to show up now?"

"Well, I felt..." The Doctor looks at Rory curiously. "I felt you could use a vacation."

"Well, you'd be right but if you haven't noticed I was in the middle of something and I'd like to finish before we go anywhere." Amy turns back around and goes upstairs. "Don't you dare run off while I'm gone!" she yells from upstairs.

"We'll be waiting right here" The Doctor yells back. "Right, Rory?"

"Yeah" Rory shifts and looks at the ground with his hands firmly in his pockets. He feels the watch with his fingers and feels slightly uncomfortable with The Doctor for some reason.


	2. Chapter 2

The Doctor had promised them a vacation and they got it. It was a winter wonderland. There was plenty of gently falling snow but it wasn't unbearably cold either. Whatever it was; it wasn't like Earth snow. Rory compared it to Narnia.

After 2 days of leisurely enjoying the scenery and the wildlife; a windy snowstorm picked up and they went snowblind in the forest. Amy grabbed Rory's hand for support and when the wind died down The Doctor was nowhere to be found.

"Where is he? He's gone" Amy wandered around through the trees.

"Don't go too far on your own, Amy." Rory called out and saw some lights in the distance. They looked like fireflies or pixies. "Maybe we should follow them"

"I guess so" Amy found herself holding Rory's hand as the forest grew darker. The sun on this planet was setting. I'd been so long since she'd been close to him. She felt terrible for it but she was just so easily bored. Life with Rory was just so familiar, so average and simple. She'd missed the adventures she'd had with The Doctor.

The pixies led them to a cave. "Should we go in?" Amy smiled excited by the mystery. It'd been so long since Rory had seen her genuinely smile. They followed the glowing lights through tunnels until they found themselves in a dead end. It was just a plain room with cave walls and some rocks to sit on.

"Oh that's just great." Rory threw up his arms as he saw the opening that led back to the tunnels suddenly disappear; sealing them in the room. "Just wonderful." Rory sat on one of the rocks and put his hands in his coat pockets.

"It's fine. Maybe we can reopen it somehow." Amy checks out the area that had once been open for a clue on how to reverse it but couldn't figure anything out.

Rory suddenly feels something in his coat pocket that he didn't remember putting there. Something round and cold.

"Open it" he heard a voice say.

"What?" Rory asked.

"Huh?" Amy turned around to face him.

"Nothing." Rory realized he was the only one who could hear this voice. He took his hand out of his pocket to find a gold fob watch had gotten in there somehow. He couldn't remember putting it in his pocket but it seemed familiar. As he looked at it, it began to glow and a bright gold light began to pour out of it.

"Rory?" Amy turned around to see Rory completely enveloped in a beam of light. "What is that? Rory what's going on? Where did you get that? What's happening?"

"Oh, for God's sake! Do you ever shut up?!" he said angrily. The glow had left the watch and it was now in his eyes.

Amy walked up slowly to him. The gold light in his eyes disappeared and they went back to blue like they always were. But they weren't like they always were; not really. "Rory?..."

"I'd prefer it if you didn't call me that anymore, thanks." he smiled rather mischievously.

"Who are you and what have you done with Rory?" Amy's eyes grew angry.

"I'm The Master" he bowed "And as for your second question; what have I done to Rory? I've erased him. He doesn't exist. Never really did."

"I ... I don't understand" Amy's anger began to morph into fear.

"Of course you don't understand" The Master rolls his eyes in frustration. "You never understand anything, do you? You've always been a little slow on the uptake. If you weren't so much fun to look at I'd have a seriously hard time tolerating you."

"Why you..." Amy is cut off as The Master places a finger over her lips and silences her.

"No, ssshhh. I'm talking now. When I talk you shut up and listen. You're so much cuter when you don't talk." The Master smiles "You see this?" he shows her the watch. "This is a fob watch but it's not an ordinary watch it's a chameleon arch. It's genius really. I hide everything about me inside it until it's safe for me to come out. My very essence, all my thoughts and memories were stored in here and now here I am."

Amy's eyes begin to water. "But Rory's real. I've known him all my life. We were kids together."

"Why would you think it impossible for me to disguise myself as a child? I mean, say you're a criminal and you want to lie low for a while; you'd want to look as innocent as possible. Am I right?" The Master laughs. "And Rory was such an excellent disguise, wasn't he. Sweet, kind, shy Rory. Your ever faithful doormat, Rory"

"Don't say that!" Amy held back tears with anger. "Bring him back!" she demanded.

"I don't think so" The Master chuckled.

Amy grabbed the watch out of his hand. "Bring him back!" A tear escaped from her eyes as she examined the watch. She sees the inscriptions on the back, a collection of circular symbols. "This is Gallifreyan. This is The Doctor's language. This is a time lord watch."

"Yeah, I'm a time lord, Amy" The Master holds up his hands. "Ta-da!" he laughs. He looks at Amy's face completely overcome with despair and he smiles. "Come on, look on the positive side." The Master walks up to her and strokes her cheek softly. "You've always wanted to know how it would have felt to get fucked by a time lord and now it turns out you'd always known." The Master chuckles viciously.

Enraged, Amy slaps him hard across the face and her nails leave a scratch on his lip.

The Master's eyes grow dark as he grabs her by her wrists and pushes her up against the wall pinning her. "That wasn't a very wise decision, Amy." he smiles as he watches Amy struggling to loosen her wrists from his grip in vain. "You can't push me around like you did Rory. But who needs him, right. He was kind of boring anyway, wasn't he?" The Master twists her wrist back until Amy cries out in pain.

"I loved him." Amy whispered with tears streaming down her face.


	3. Chapter 3

"Did you?" The Master releases his grip on Amy's wrists and paced the room. "Did you really love him or did you just love the way he worshipped you?"

"Shut up!" Amy walked towards him angrily but stopped herself short of striking him again when she remembered the bruises that were starting to appear on her wrists.

"It's kind of nice being worshipped, isn't it?" The Master smiles. "To be able to command someone and have them do exactly what you want them to do. To control people. It's fun to control people. Isn't it, Amy?" he leans in close to look her in the eye. "Maybe we're not all that different you and I" he smiles sadistically noticing the fear in Amy's eyes.

"Obviously you don't know anything about love. I'm sure no one has ever loved you!" Amy gets up in his face nose to nose forgetting the bruises on her wrists.

"Oh boohoo no one's ever loved me." The Master makes a mock sad face "But being feared works about the same as being loved when it comes to getting what you want out of people." he chuckled.

"I'm not afraid of you" Amy whispers as she looks him in the eye.

"That's either very brave of you or very stupid of you. And you were never very intelligent so I'm going to have to assume the latter." The Master takes her wrist again and twists it.

"Stop!" Amy screams.

"I thought you weren't scared" The Master's expression is deadpan.

"You're going to break my arm" Amy is afraid to move for fear The Master will turn harder. "Let go!" she pleads tearfully.

"Ask nicely this time and don't forget to say please." The Master's tone is sarcastically polite as he twists harder.

"No, please!" Amy screams.

"No please..." The Master rolls his eyes impatiently.

"No please don't hurt me. Please let me go. Please!" Amy cries until she's set free.

"Fear works just the same." The Master smiles. "And it's more fun in my opinion."

"The Doctor will stop you!" Amy threatens but backs away from him as she does so. "The Doctor will be here soon and he'll destroy."

"Ooh, promise?" The Master rubs his hands together excitedly.

Amy is backed up against the wall in fear but her eyes are filled with rage.

The Master casually sits back down on one of the large rocks in the room. "Hey, we don't have to fight. We can just sit here and relax for a minute and I'm sure The Doctor will show up and find us a way out of here. But in the meantime since we're going to be stuck in here for who knows how long we might as well try to get along. Granted we got off on the wrong foot" he laughs. "I have a terrible temper but I'll try to keep it in check."

"You're a psychopath" Amy scoffs.

"Maybe a little bit, yeah. But every time lord needs a companion and I haven't signed any divorce papers yet so..." The Master shrugs his shoulders.

"I didn't marry you." Amy walks up closer to him but still keeps a bit of distance between them.

"If you want to get caught up on technicalities fine." The Master stands up and rolls his eyes again. "But I'm pretty much the same physically. That is, I look the same since this body is actually physically stronger now than it was when it was Rory's. And I still find you to be ... nice looking.." he points at her moving his fingers from her feet to her head. "All that looks good"

"So you insult my intelligence and tell me I'm stupid. Then you almost break my arm and threaten me within an inch of my life. And now you're trying to give me a compliment on my looks?" Amy puts a hand on her hip and raises an eyebrow inquisitively.

"I guess I'm no good at flirting." The Master sighed. "That is unless you think it's working." he smiled.

"I don't think so." Amy chuckles.

"Ok, I'll give it another go later on then" The Master stood and investigated the room for a way out while Amy sat and watched him.

She didn't know what she was supposed to do. Amy looked at him and it looked like Rory but the way he moved around the room muttering to himself as he tried to find a way out reminded her of The Doctor. But he wasn't like The Doctor, not really. The Master was pure evil. He didn't care about saving anyone or helping anyone but himself.

She had an urge to put her trust in him because he looked so much like Rory but she wasn't as stupid as The Master had said she was. She knew he was going to use that against her. He'd pretend to be nice to her until she felt comfortable with him again and then attack. He'd be sweet one minute and threatening to snap her wrists again the next.

Amy really did want Rory back and she really did love him but The Master had said something that wasn't a complete fallacy. Amy did love the way Rory had worshipped her but that didn't mean that she hadn't fallen in love with him in the process. She hated herself for having let her boredom and depression get the best of her.

With The Doctor no longer there to distract her from her problems and after finding out her body had been internally altered and sterilized after Demon's Run she figured there was no point in doing anything anymore. She wanted Rory to leave her for someone better because she wasn't good enough for him and she knew it. Whether or not Rory was real or fabricated as a decoy to hide a madman's identity; Rory will always be the most beautiful man she'd ever known.

"What exactly was your relationship with The Doctor?" Amy asked making The Master stop what he was doing to look at her. "You're both time lords and you seem to know who he is. What's the story? You talk like you're this mad brilliant criminal who almost took over the world but The Doctor's never mentioned you." Amy knew this would appeal to his obvious narcissism.

"He didn't talk about me even once, did he?" The Master scoffed. "Typical" he responded exactly as Amy had expected him to almost as if on cue.


	4. Chapter 4

"I did actually take over the world once but The Doctor and his old companion reversed the whole thing so no one even remembers that it happened." The Master rolls his eyes. "All my hard work.."

"So..." Amy kept trying to act friendly with him. "Do all time lords have companions?"

"I don't really make a habit of picking up strays the way The Doctor does but sometimes it helps to have an accomplice" The Master sits beside Amy giving up his search for an exit and deciding to play along with her 'pretending to be nice' act.

"An accomplice is totally different from a companion." Amy smiles "And I'm not The Doctor's pet" she added a little more sternly.

"Well, you keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel any better." The Master joked. They sat close together in silence for a few seconds until a familiar noise began whirling inside the cave and the Tardis appeared before them.

"Ponds!" The Doctor runs out and hugs them both. "I thought I'd lost you guys." he planted a kiss on each of their foreheads. "Let's go!" The Doctor takes them by the hand and they run back inside the Tardis. He spins around rapidly and looks at The Master inquisitively. "Rory, do you feel alright? Something's different"

"I'm fine. It's just been a pretty tiring day." The Master put his arm around Amy and held her wounded wrist behind her back so The Doctor wouldn't see.

Amy did her best to keep a straight face and not show she was in pain. "We'd like to go to our room now and rest is all." she chuckled and bit her lip.

"Alright then. Good night." The Doctor turned back around and fiddled with the knobs and gears on his console but he knew something wasn't right.

The very second The Master closed the door to their room Amy began to scold him. "I don't care who the hell you think you are but you're not ever going to try to control me like that ever again, you understand me?!" Amy had him up against the wall as she wagged a finger at him with her good hand. "You may very well call yourself The Master but you're no master of mine, you got that?!"

The Master smiled and licked the scratch Amy had left on his lip when she'd slapped him. "I know you're quite capable of putting up a fight. I'm sure watching you struggle against me again will be just as entertaining the next time around"

Amy takes hold of her wounded wrist. "The Doctor already knows something's wrong. He'll find a way to send you back to Time Lord limbo or where ever you were hiding before in that stupid pocket watch of yours."

"Why didn't you just tell The Doctor I wasn't Rory from the moment he arrived?" The Master asked honestly wanting to know why. "I thought for sure you'd rat me out"

"I..." Amy thought for a second. "I thought maybe you'd do something." Amy had been afraid he would hurt her or The Doctor if she'd said anything but she wasn't about to admit she was afraid of him out loud. "Why didn't you say who you were?" she questioned him back.

"It just wasn't a very good time. I mean, I'd prefer to wait for a slightly more dramatic entrance." The Master wanted The Doctor alone and vulnerable first was more like it but he wasn't about to tell Amy that he may or may not be planning something sinister. He was still trying to figure out what he ought to do next.

Thoughts of killing Amy flooded his mind again. It was like a pounding in his head he couldn't ignore. But was it worth it to kill her? Amy might still be of some use to him. And if he did kill Amy he'd love for The Doctor to be present for it.

Amy sat on the bed and looked at The Master longingly. He looked so much like Rory it was driving her crazy but it wasn't Rory. His eyes weren't right. Or that is to say; his eyes were the same but something behind his eyes wasn't right. She wanted to ask him if there was anything left of Rory. Even if it was just a sliver of something in the corner of his mind. A shiver went down her spine.

"Cold?" The Master's voice sounded dangerously sweet.

Amy shrugged. "I guess". Her eyes felt heavy. "I'm a little tired is all"

"Then get some rest" The Master sat down beside her.

"I don't trust you enough to take my eyes off you" Amy's eyes narrowed.

"Oh, is that why you can't take your eyes off me? And all this time I thought it was because we had something." The Master jokes in his usual sarcastic way. "I thought I felt something between us. Did you not feel it?"

"No, I hate you" Amy scoffed but couldn't deny she was curious about him. He looked like Rory but he was a different man.

After having cheated on her husband for so long she'd missed him and wanted him back but she couldn't bring herself to face him. She was ashamed because when Rory saw her she could see the hurt in his The Master it was like cheating but it wasn't. Physically speaking; it was her husband's body.

"I promise you I won't disturb you while you sleep" The Master stood up. "I still have some of Rory's memories and disturbing your slumber is like waking up a demon." he laughed and it almost sounded like Rory. "I don't need to sleep as much as humans do so you can have the whole bed to yourself. I'll be in the library if you need me." The Master leaves the room.

Amy felt worried thinking he was wandering around The Tardis planning god knows what but her eyes were just so tired. As she nodded off she thought to herself half asleep about what he'd just said; he still had Rory's memories. It was that sliver in the corner of his mind that she'd been hoping for.


	5. Chapter 5

Amy woke up to a rocking sensation that sent her rolling off her bed. "Are you kidding me!?" she yelled angrily holding her head in her hand. "Ugh" She struggled to get on her feet as the Tardis rocked back and forth. "What's going on!?" she yelled as she reached the door. "What did he do? What did you do?!" Amy yelled down the hall as she ran towards the console room.

"Doctor!" Amy reached the console room but it was empty and dark. Everything went quiet and the Tardis stopped rocking. She was left in almost pitch black darkness besides a very dim blue light coming from underneath the console's glass floor. "Please" she whispered as if begging the Tardis to wake up and give her an answer.

"Hello, Amy" Rory's familiar voice made her heart flutter with a tinge of hope for a fleeting moment before she remembered who he really was.

"What are you doing? I know you did this. You've damaged the Tardis somehow to trap us." Amy balled her hands into fists as The Master came out of the shadow and into the soft blue light as he walked up the stairs towards her slowly.

"Good job, Amy. You're so intelligent." The Master spoke; each word dripping with disdain.

"Where's The Doctor? What have you done with him" Amy backs up til she runs into the console table as The Master walks up to her.

He smiles menacingly "He's a little tied up at the moment" The Master rests his hands on the console around her and leans in close. "I'll let him live if you do something for me first" his lips are so close Amy can feel his breath on her neck.

She feels The Master's hands on her hips. "Stop" she can only let out a whisper as she tries to move his hands off her unsuccessfully. "You're not him" Amy closes her eyes as he moves his hands under her blouse. "You're not Rory." a solitary tear escapes from the corner of her eye.

"That's never stopped you before." The Master pins her body against the console and kisses her hard grabbing her hair as he forces his tongue in.

Amy spit in his face once he finally pulled away from her. The Master grabbed her hard by her shoulders and pushed her to the ground. She fell on her stomach and hits her head on the floor. Everything went black and when she came to she found herself strapped down and tied up by some large tenticular plant next to The Doctor.

"Don't worry. These aren't the carnivorous ones" The Doctor unsuccessfully tries to calm Amy.

"Why do you even HAVE carnivorous tentacle monster plants in the Tardis to begin with" Amy struggles to get free.

"No, don't move!" The Doctor warns "The flowers are poisonous. If you disturb them they'll shoot venomous spikes to protect themselves."

"You're the one who's going to need to protect yourself, you bloody idiot!" Amy yells "Why!? Why in the name sanity do you have these?!"

"Well, I didn't think this was going to happen did I? I had my suspicions but ..." The Doctor is cut off.

"How long have you been suspicious?" Amy asked.

"Your daughter" The Doctor explained. "She's half time lord. I really wanted to buy that whole conception in the time vortex idea but it just never felt right"

"But Rory was human. One heart and everything" Amy shook her head unable to accept it. "There has to be someway to get him back"

"A way to bring Rory back?" The Doctor's face grew cold and serious. "I'm so sorry, Amy but he's not coming back."

"No, shut up. There has to be something." Amy tried to hold back tears. "The watch he carried; it had The Master's soul in it. What if we destroy the watch? Will it kill him?"

"It's not a horcrux, Amy" The Doctor explains.

"It sure sounds like one to me!" Amy yells angrily again. "Can we reverse it? Is there a reverse button that can lock The Master back inside it and make Rory normal again?"

"The Master's used a fob watch before and he was a different person then." The Doctor began "We could try to trap The Master in the watch again but who's to say his body won't just disappear or maybe he'll turn into someone else completely. Someone who isn't Rory."

"He already isn't Rory!" Amy is trying hard not to cry. "We have to at least try something. Rory's as good as dead if we don't even try." The tears start to fall as she continues to speak. "The Master said that he had some of Rory's memories. If Rory's memories still exist then maybe he can come back."

"I have memories of my life as a human when I used the fob watch but it doesn't mean I'm still John Smith" The Doctor hated to keep shooting her ideas down but he had to be realistic with her this time. There was a very slim chance any of those ideas could work.

"I don't care." Amy talks through her tears. "It has to work. I'm going to make it work because I need him back. I need to tell him that I'm so sorry. I have to tell him that I love him and that I've missed him so much!" her tears spill to the floor "I hated myself so much that I couldn't bear to face him. I couldn't bear to let him touch me because I wasn't good enough. Oh my god, Rory!" her tears touched the tentacles of her plant and it burned the plant and realized her.

"Salt water!" The Doctor explained. "It just needs saline."

Amy wiped the tears off her face with her hands and touched the plant holding The Doctor hostage. He wiggled free and held Amy tight in a big warm hug.

"We'll figure this out, Amelia." he kisses her forehead. "We'll get through this you and me."

That's what Rory had said to her when the results came back. He'd wanted children so much and she could never give him any. They had River but they never raised her. He wanted to raise a child in the right order.

Ever since she'd known Rory; he wanted to be a father. She thought she'd failed him when she got her results back but that wasn't when she failed him. She failed him the minute she gave up trying. She failed him when she let herself grow too cold to care. Amy promised herself she'd never fail him again.


	6. Chapter 6

Amy and The Doctor walked down a dark corridor with nothing but a dim blue light glowing from under the floor to guide them. "Now stay close" The Doctor said walking behind Amy. "You know The Tardis likes to switch things up sometimes and with The Master trying to sabotage the ship; who knows what could..."

Amy turned around to find The Doctor had disappeared. "Are you kidding me!?" Amy yelled "Are you seriously kidding me right now!?" her voice grew even louder. "Work with me here!" she threw her hands up in resignation. "We have to work together, Tardis. I thought we were friends." Amy found herself whispering to The Tardis. "After all we've been through. You gotta give me something."

As she went around the corner she heard a laughing child and quickly turned around to look. Amy found herself staring back at herself. She was 8 years old and she was wearing red rain boots and red and white night gown. Little Amelia started running down the corridor and big Amy followed after her against her better judgement. Amy found herself in complete darkness after turning another corner and stopped moving. "It's just playing tricks with my head" she repeated out loud to herself as she closed her eyes. She could still little Amelia laughing.

When she reopened her eyes; The Tardis looked like it normally did. It was well lit with an orange glow and she could see the console room at the end of the corridor. She ran towards it hoping to find The Doctor waiting for her there.

"Oh, will you look what The Tardis dragged in" The Master sat on a small brown chair reclining with his hands resting behind his head. "Where to?" he quickly stood up and began to mess with the controls.

"Where's The Doctor this time?" Amy walked up to him steaming with anger. "I'm tired of this! You tell me what you did and set The Doctor free."

The Master ignored her completely as he typed some coordinates in.

"Don't touch that. Only The Doctor can fly this thing!" Amy scolded.

"Are you kidding me?" The Master laughed. "He doesn't know what the hell he's doing most of the time. The Tardis isn't even supposed to make that terrible noise it always makes but he always leaves the brakes on."

"That's what River said." Amy smiled but it quickly faded as she remembered her current circumstance.

"River.." The Master scoffed "My own daughter and The Doctor's got her on his side. Maybe we should find her and pay her a visit"

"I don't think so" The Doctor walked in into the console room soaking wet and picking seaweed out of his hair. "Leave River out of this."

"Where have you been?!" Amy sounded like his worried mother.

"Almost drowned in the aquarium room. Obviously." The Doctor took off his shoe to let out a small pile of sand.

"Obviously, Amy." The Master rolled his eyes sarcastically.

Amy caught a glimpse of the fob watch shimmer in The Master's pocket as he walked towards The Doctor. Her mind raced with ideas about how she could get her hands on that watch. Amy stood no more than 3 feet behind The Master as he spoke to The Doctor.

"Look, we've been doing this same old song and dance for close to a thousand years now. So wouldn't it just be easier if we worked together for a change?" The Master put his hand in his pocket and stuffed the watch down too far for Amy to see it anymore. She sighed in frustration as she looked over The Master's shoulder at The Doctor.

"Think of all the power he could have if we worked together." The Master walked up close enough to nudge The Doctor with his shoulder. "We could rule the universe, you and I."

The Doctor looked at The Master with a strange warmth in his eyes mixed with an overwhelming sadness. The Doctor was looking at someone who used to be a friend; The Master and Rory. Both of them seemed too lost to ever get back. "I've never wanted to rule the universe; I've only ever wanted to see it. You'll never understand that, will you?"

"Oh, please. Stop playing innocent, Doctor. You've been controlling and bending time and space for your own amusment for centuries." The Master looked him dead in the eye and quite literally toe to toe. "You can act high and mighty and spout your pretentious, self righteous bile til you're blue in the face if it makes you feel better about yourself but it isn't going to fool me."

The Master turns around and sees Amy standing close behind him. "He's a liar." The Master speaks to Amy as he goes back to the console. "He's the worst kind of liar because he lies to himself. Me, I'm true to myself and; whether or not you'd like to admit it; we're a lot more alike than you let on, Doctor."

"Where are you flying us to?" Amy stood bravely beside The Master as she asked him.

"Earth, The Doctor's favorite planet and the easiest to control. Isn't that right, Doctor?" The Master turned around from the console to look at him as he leaned up against the console railing. "That's why you love it so much, right? Humans look at you like you're some kind of god and you can't get enough of it, can you? That's what you're companions are for."

"I don't worship The Doctor. He's my friend, something you obviously know nothing about." Amy was speaking quite boldly.

"You lie to yourself just as much as he does." The Master walked up to Amy and looked her in the eye as he took her hand. "When I'm in charge of Earth again I could give you power if you promise to stand by my side. All I need from you is your complete submission and obedience and I'll make sure to compensate your good behavior."

"I already told you, I'm no one's pet and I don't care if you make me the queen of your twisted little kingdom; I'd rather die than be your slave." Amy dared him to try something.

"That can be arranged." The Master's face is cold and serious. His eyes are dark and any warmth that had at one time resided in that once familiar face had all but disappeared. But Amy promised herself she wasn't going to give up on Rory no matter how hopeless it seemed.


	7. Chapter 7

"Sounds like we've landed" The Master ran to the front door and opened it to find himself in front of the Pond's home. "Ah, home sweet broken home" he stepped out of the Tardis and Amy quickly followed behind him.

"Where are you going?" Amy questioned him as she stood in front of him.

"Why, are you coming with me?" The Master scoffed and nudged her out the way as he caught a taxi.

"Stop!" Amy called out and ran after the cab with The Doctor behind her. She got a hold of the door handle for a minute before it sped up too fast for her to hold on. "Great, he's loose. What if he goes to the hospital?! Everyone will think he's still Rory."

"Well, it's a start." The Doctor hailed a cab. "Come along, Pond" he took her by the hand and they got into the backseat. "Royal Leadworth Hospital. It's an emergency!" he commanded the driver.

Amy and The Doctor were right to have followed their instinct of searching the hospital. Amy ran to the front desk "Has Rory Williams come in to work today?" she asked.

A nurse walking past overheard and turned to speak with her "Yeah, he's here." She looked Amy over quite judgmentally. "You his ex wife?"

Amy's eyes flashed with anger. "Not yet" she tried to hold in her urge to scream.

"He doesn't want to see you right now" the nurse crossed her arms. "He came in here looking extremely upset. I asked him if he wanted to go home but he insisted he stay and work. That's Rory for you; he's been soldiering on day in and day out even with all his troubles and I'm not letting you come in here and start another fight with him while he's at work."

"Who said I was here to fight him?" Amy was losing her temper "Maybe it's an emergency and I need to speak with him now!"

"I'll call for him but I don't want a domestic dispute in my lobby, is that clear?" the woman at the front desk rolled her eyes. "Rory Williams to the front lobby, please"

The Doctor took her to one side "What was that? What's been going on with you and Rory? Did you get a divorce?" his eyes grew incredibly sad.

"Are we really going to do this now, Doctor?" Amy crossed her arms and avoided eye contact. "Besides, he's not even Rory anymore."

"But ... he was." The Doctor took her hands in his "And if you figure out a way to change him back to Rory; who's to say you won't start fighting again?"

"I'll change. I'll beg for his forgiveness and I'll be better." Amy felt herself fighting tears.

"What have you done that would require you to beg for forgiveness, Amelia?" The Doctor could see her losing her battle to hold back tears and he held her close in a warm hug.

"Excuse me?" The nurse was back and looking her over with that disgusted look in her face again. "He's said he isn't talking to you. He probably doesn't want to come down here and see you hugging it out with your new boyfriend. I mean, seriously. What is your problem?"

"No! What is your problem!?" Amy completely lost it. "Who the hell are you and why are you speaking for my husband?"

"I'm his friend. Everyone in this hospital loves him to bits and all the other nurses know all about you and your whoring around behind his back." The Nurse was hit with a jab to the face from Amy's fist.

"You little..." Amy pulled her hair and slammed her up against the wall.

"Whoa! Hey!" The Doctor pulled them apart "That's enough."

The lights suddenly went out and panicked voices began to murmur. A scream broke through the dark followed by another and another. When the lights came back on 4 people lay dead on the floor and in their place stood four men in black clothes.

The woman at the front desk quickly picked up the phone to call the police but a bolt of bright lightning-like energy threw the phone out of her hand.

"Sorry, I really can't have you doing that right now" The Master came down the hallway and into the lobby with a big smile on his face. "I can still do the thing" he laughed putting his palms up to show them glowing with white energy.

"What the hell is going on, Rory?" The nurse who'd picked a fight with Amy disrupted him.

"Please, shut up, Nancy." The Master threw a bolt of energy at her sending her flying across the room and hitting the wall unconscious. "She's great fun at parties but she can be such a bitch sometimes" The Master smiled. "My disciples are here! They're the ones who resurrected me last time, remember?" He watched as they kneeled before him. "There's plenty more of them upstairs." The Master pointed up to the second floor and the sound of screaming could be heard through the ceiling. "Anyone too weak to be of any use to me is being put out of their misery."

Two of the Disciples of Saxon get off their knees and run upstairs. One of them reaches for Amy and holds a knife to her throat.

"No!" The Master and The Doctor both yelled in unison.

The Master slowly walked up to Amy and delicately ran his fingers down the side of her face. "She could still be of some use to me" The Master grabbed her arm and took her away while The Doctor was held back by the 2 disciples.

The Master threw Amy into a dark and empty hospital room and closed the door behind him. "You know how often I've fantasized killing you, Amy?" he asked as he slowly walked up to her. "I've imagined slitting your throat and having The Doctor watch you scream in pain as you slowly faded away. I wanted him to see that last glimmer of life leaving your eyes as you cried and choked on your own blood." he had Amy up against the wall. "But funny thing is.." The Master laughed rather maniacally. "I finally got the chance and I didn't do it." The Master looked at her suddenly quite serious. "Why do you think that is?"

"I don't know" Amy could only whisper as a tear fell down her cheek. She wanted to believe it was Rory fighting back somehow but she was losing hope. "You win" her tears were falling uncontrollably now. "You win, Master."

The Master smiled. "On your knees" He watched as she obeyed. "Good girl"


	8. Chapter 8

The Master grabbed her by the hair and forced her head up to look at him. "I said you might still be of use to me so show me how you're useful."

Amy moved her hands slowly up his thigh and began to unbutton his trousers. She'd felt the watch still in his pocket. If she could only find a way to distract him long enough to get a hold of it somehow. She looked around and spotted a syringe and other sharp medical supplies she could fight with.

The Master loosened his grip on her hair; finally allowing her to move freely. Quickly she pushed him back and grabbed a pair of medical scissors; stabbing him in the leg as she tried to get on her feet and run.

"You fucking bitch" The Master grabbed her and kept her from getting up. He pulled the scissors out of his leg. "That was very rude of you" The Master pinned her down to the floor and held the scissors to Amy's throat. "I guess you can be just as useful dead." he lifted up his arm ready to slice Amy across the throat when he felt her hand in his pocket.

"Wait" Amy whispered. "What is this?" she held the fob watch in her hand.

"It's nothing, you idiot. Now give it back to me and I might not kill you." The Master reached for the watch but Amy moved her hand away.

"Why don't you just kill me and pry it from my cold dead fingers" Amy half smiled.

"Don't tempt me." The Masters voice is low and grumbling.

"I don't think you can kill me." Amy squeezed the watch tight in her hand.

"I can do whatever I want to you" The Master slapped her across the face making her lose her grip on the watch. It flew across the room and they both went after it. Amy got to it first and ran for the door. She dropped trays and knocked over stretchers in the hallway behind her as she ran obstructing The Master from chasing after her.

"Damnit!" The Master kicked a table out of his way as he watched Amy run up the stairs. "Shut up!" he banged on his forehead with the palm of his hand. "Shut up! Shut up!" he covered his face in his hands and screamed. "I'm going to kill her and you're going to watch." He was alone but he didn't seem to be speaking to himself.

"Doctor!?" Amy screamed as she went up to the next floor.

"Amy!?" The Doctor's voice called back.

Amy knocked open all the doors she could until she found The Doctor tied up.

"Oh, what would you do without me, Doctor" Amy untied his restraints. Just then the door was flung open by one of the hospital nurses.

"Hurry! The police are on their way. I'm trying to save as many people as I can. Let's move!" she took their hands.

"Wait, I sent The Tardis to the roof" The Doctor stopped the nurse.

"The what?" she asked confused.

"It can transport us to safety" Amy quickly explained to the nurse. "You can come with us. Right, Doctor?"

"Uh.. sure. Let's go!" The Doctor, Amy and the nurse ran down the corridor to find The Master walking towards them. His hair was a mess and there was blood dripping from where Amy had stabbed him but it didn't hinder his ability to walk very much.

"I'm going to kill you, Amy!" The Master yelled maniacally as he started running after them.

"What the hell happened to Rory?!" the nurse asked as the went up the stairs to the roof.

"That's not Rory" Amy opened the door to the roof. "There's the Tardis"

"It's a box" the nurse looked confused.

"I'll explain later" The Doctor took the nurse's hand and ran to the Tardis. He opened the door and pushed the nurse inside. When he looked back he saw Amy wasn't running and The Master had made it to the roof. "Amy, what are you doing?!" The Doctor yelled at her. "He's not Rory! He'll kill you!"

Amy took out the watch. "He could have killed me a long time ago but something kept getting in the way. Didn't it, Master?" she ran her fingers through the ridges formed by the Gallifreyan writing inscribed on the watch.

"There's nothing in my way, you stupid girl" The Master raised his palm towards her and began to create a lightning ball to throw her way until he saw her raise the watch towards him.

"What happens if I open this in front of you, Master?" Amy smiled as she clicked the latch to open it. A beam of light came from it so strong that Amy almost fell backwards and she had to close her eyes from the brightness of it. She heard The Master scream and when the light finally disappeared the watch shut closed and his body laid unmoving on the floor. "Oh my God!" Amy ran towards the body. "Rory!? Please, Rory" she laid her head on his chest in search of a heartbeat or two but heard nothing.

"It's bigger on the inside" the nurse came out from the Tardis. She saw Amy crying over the body and ran to help. "Stand back" she kneeled down to examine him. Just then a large spotlight came from the sky.

"This is the police" a voice came from the helicopter above them. "We're landing and we're taking you to safety."

Amy and the nurse picked up the body and boarded the helicopter with The Doctor. Quickly they were examined by medical personnel. "We're taking you to the nearest hospital. Don't worry, you're safe now."

They laid the body down and strapped it in a stretcher. The Doctor helped examine the body with the other medical staff while Amy and the nurse sat and strapped on their seatbelts.

"You're Rory's wife, aren't you?" The nurse smiled "I recognized you from the billboards at the shopping mall. I've heard a lot about you."


	9. Chapter 9

"And what sort of things have you heard about me exactly?" Amy asked ready for the worst.

"Oh, just... Rory talked about you a lot." The nurse bit her lip and took a breath before continuing. "He told me how you'd been struggling these last few months ever since you got the news." she took Amy's hand in hers "You know he never cared about that, right? I mean he was disappointed by the news but it never changed how much he loved you." She spoke of him in past tense.

"In fact he was more disappointed in himself. He insisted that he'd failed at making you happy. But I'm sure that's not true, is it?" the nurse smiled and looked down at her feet. "Sorry if that was too personal. I'm trying to say nice things to make you feel better. You can tell me to shut up now if you want"

"So Rory never said anything bad about me?" Amy asked; her face serious and cold but her eyes holding back tears. "He didn't tell you how many times I cheated on him in the last year?"

"Oh, well..." the nurse hesitated "It was a rumor going around but Rory didn't start it. It was another one of the nurses who said she saw you with someone else. Rory confronted her and told her to stay the hell out of his private life. There was a scuffle with all the nurses after that about whose side they were on. There was all sorts of drama. You'd think we were in one of those melodramatic medical dramas."

Amy chuckled but her eyes were still sad. "Well, it's not a rumor. It's true."

"Yeah, I know" The nurse bit her lip nervously again. "He told me. I promised him never to mention it to the others."

"Sounds like you two are good friends." Amy was trying not to sound as bitter as she felt.

They arrived at the hospital and were each taken to their own rooms for further evaluation. Amy was x-rayed but there was nothing broken or sprained.

"Looks like just cuts and bruises" The nurse smiled but turned a little serious as he leaned in. "Now it looks like you got yourself in a fight; didn't you?" His voice was sweet and friendly as he tried to approach the topic with sensitivity. "We'd really like the full story so we can further evaluate what sort of care you need."

"It was one of the crazies who took over the hospital. I never saw his face" she lied. "But I messed him up good so don't you worry about me." she added.

"Are you certain you don't want to speak to a counselor? An attack can be a traumatic experience.." He's cut off.

"I said I'm fine. I just want to know where they've taken my husband." Amy was becoming uneasy.

"The man we had airlifted with you?" the nurse waited for her to shake her head yes. "Yes, well it's hard to explain actually. He seems to have no injuries whatsoever yet he remains unresponsive. He's across the hall so he's not far. We're taking good care of him."

"What exactly does that mean, unresponsive?" Amy's voice was growing worried.

"He seems to be in a coma but there are no injuries to suggest what might have caused it. You no longer need any medical supervision yourself so if you'd like you can go to the waiting area for a moment and I'll ask the doctor if you can come see him." He kindly took her hand and lead her to the waiting room.

It was a cold and sterile white room with hard plastic chairs. A pile of magazines were stacked on a glass coffee table in the center of the room. Nervous faces darted their eyes around in anticipation as the TV in the corner let out a dull roar of pre-recorded sitcom laughter at half volume.

A little boy looked up from his magazine and gasped as his eyes met Amy's. He stood up and walked up to her; his eyes filled with amazement. "Are you a princess?" he asked.

Amy laughed "Do you think I look like a princess?" She pointed at her slightly tattered jeans and the bandage wrapped around her hand.

"Here you are as a princess" The boy held up a picture in a magazine. It was one of her modeling pictures for a perfume advert. She was covered in diamonds and not much else.

Amy leaned in and whispered "Ok, you know my secret but you mustn't tell anyone about it. I'm undercover."

"Ok" the boy whispered back and sat back down with his mother.

"Mrs. Pond?" A nurse with a clipboard called her. "This way please."

Amy was lead to a room with a hospital bed surrounded by beeping boxes and wires. The Doctor was there sitting in an armchair. He sprang to his feet when he saw her. "Amy!" he gave her a hug. "Don't worry. I'm sure he'll wake up soon. Going from two hearts back to one can take a lot out of you." The Doctor gets a little more serious as he rests his hands on Amy's shoulders. "Now, it'll be like he's starting from scratch. Remember what I said could happen? He might just have a little memory loss or he might just not be Rory anymore. He'll be a human but he might believe he's someone else."

"I'll be him" Amy knelt down by the bed and took his hand. "I know it will. He was Rory even when he wasn't, remember?" She laughed thinking about her plastic Centurion.

"That's true" The Doctor smiled.

A nurse opened the door and stuck her head in. "I'm sorry but it's getting late and visiting hours will end in a few minutes. You can come back first thing in the morning if you'd like and if there's any new developments we'll be sure to phone and let you know as soon as we can."

"Stay home with me?" Amy took The Doctor's arm in her hand as they walked down the corridor and out of the hospital.

"Of course, Amelia" The Doctor kissed her forehead and held her close.


End file.
